Nick Nesta wins Apopka Mayor Runoff

Apopka City Commissioner Nick Nesta overwhelmingly won Tuesday’s runoff and defeated Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore to become Apopka’s next Mayor.

Nesta beat Moore with nearly 62% of the vote, according to unofficial election results that showed all precincts reporting.

Nesta will lead Apopka, a city of about 60,000 residents in Northwest Orange County.

Ahead of Election Day, Nesta thanked his supporters and volunteers on social media.

“This campaign has always been resident-focused and you are all a huge part of what keeps it going,” he wrote on Facebook to get out the vote.

Nesta’s victory comes after a fierce campaign with personal attacks in what had started out as a three-way race between Nesta, Moore and incumbent Mayor Bryan Nelson.

In last month’s Election, Nesta and Moore received about 42% and 32% of the vote, respectively. Nelson finished in third place, so Nesta and Moore moved on to a runoff since neither received a majority of the vote.

Nelson, the ousted incumbent, then endorsed Moore after unsuccessfully suing to have her removed from the ballot earlier this year. Nelson previously accused her of not living in Apopka and failing to qualify for the ballot. Moore denied Nelson’s allegations and said she should be allowed to run.

Moore won Nelson’s support in part because Nesta and Nelson also have a personal history.

Nesta accused Nelson’s wife of pushing him two years ago and filed a police report against her. No charges were ever filed against Nelson’s wife, the Orlando Sentinel previously reported.

Nelson said the dispute began when Nesta had read Nelson’s wife’s personal information onto the public record during a 2024 City Commission meeting. The Sentinel reported that this led to a confrontation where Nelson’s wife admitted to poking Nesta in the chest to get his attention. Nesta said Nelson’s wife pushed him.

Nesta has also come under fire for working with Christopher Delgado, the tech CEO accused of running a $328 million Ponzi scheme.

Nesta disclosed on Facebook last month that he had represented Delgado for real estate deals to buy and sell homes. 

“Like any home purchase, those sales were completed through licensed lenders and required full lender approval of the home loans. At one point, Christopher Delgado also made a donation to one of my prior campaigns, just as many local individuals in our community do when they choose to support a candidate,” Nesta wrote.

“I want to be very clear: I have never invested with Christopher Delgado, I have never participated in any cryptocurrency ventures with him, and I have never had any financial involvement with him beyond those standard real estate transactions that were approved by licensed lenders.”